A hard-fought victory

Going more than a month between blog posts is clearly bad form and I hope that you'll accept my apologies for leaving you hanging when it comes to updates about my treatment.  This one's got a fine ending!

Back on August 22nd when I last posted, I had just wrapped up round one of three rounds of chemo and it had gone well.  My dear mother came out from Ohio to help look after me during the second round.  An RN with nearly 40 years of experience, I was most fortunate to have her next to me when a trip to the Glover Park Whole Foods got a bit exciting.  After my first "long week" of round two, she and I popped in to grab some snacks before heading home and after just 15 minutes my body had had enough - I passed out at the checkout counter.  I woke up with my head on the knee of some guy who was checking out ahead of me and quite a few worried faces.   I spent the next four days on the sofa with almost no energy at all.

Round three began two weeks ago and it was harder still with more nausea, less energy and a greater realization that I had underestimated the challenge posed by chemo.  Round one was a lot like the moderate annoyance I had forecasted, but the slope of my climb increased significantly in the latter two rounds.  Round three has drained a fair bit of the color from my life.  My attention span became shortened, my appetite got slashed, my passions became muted and I became a bit of a sail without wind.

Yesterday, after enduring my second-to-last bleo dose I headed down to the radiology department for a CT scan to confirm that all of this chemo had worked.   As the cancerous nodes in my retroperitoneum had been relatively small to begin with, my oncologist felt comfortable that the results of a CT even before the end of my treatment would confirm that the chemo had done its job.  At just after 5pm, we got an email from the oncologist that included that oh so sweet word "remission".  Today, after consulting with one of the world's leading testicular cancer specialists, my oncologist passed on his words saying that my case is "indeed a complete remission and almost certainly cured."

Booyah.

So, cure in hand it is the recovery that lies ahead.  I still have much less energy than your normal chap and it's going to be a few months before I'm back to full steam.   I expect to be a bit stronger each day and maybe by January I can finally find that indoor soccer facility that I've been hoping to make my new home away from Boulder Indoor Soccer.   One day soon, I'll tackle the medical bills from this battle and I'll bring you along with me on that.  As with all medical billing, I imagine it will drag on for months as I argue over coverage and errors.

Beyond subsequent posts, all that remains is to say thank you.  Thank you to all of you who sent cards, texts, Facebook posts, emails and to those who came to visit.  Thank you to everyone who cooked us meals and donated cash that allowed us to go eat eggs and tater tots at The Diner in Adams Morgan.  Thank you to all of you who chimed in, stayed connected and swam through a bit of the cancer muck with me.   Finally, a massive barrel of gratitude goes to my sweet wife Abby who has been the best partner anyone could ever dream of.  I love her more than Santiago's stuffed sopapillas, Dave Seaman and Manchester United combined.

Until next time, be good to one another and take a big hug for yourself.

Cheers,

Dom